Search form

Search form

While not disclosing specifics, Chiquita Brands International recently announced it is researching ways to make its bananas more appealing, though it said the fruit would not be genetically modified. The company is investigating ways to infuse flavors from other fruit into bananas and ways to make them larger and creamier.

Related Summaries

Organic beef producers are boosting production in an effort to meet demand one company executive called "overwhelming beyond belief." Grocers are scrambling to find suppliers; Whole Foods Market said it can't find a single supplier large enough to supply the chain's 150 stores.

The Agriculture Department said yesterday the second confirmatory test on a cow suspected to be infected with BSE found negative results. No further information was provided regarding the animal, but Center for Food Safety executive director Andrew Kimbrell said the USDA should use independent laboratories to confirm its tests because he believes there are more cases out there.

Some individuals only marginally involved in running farms are receiving farm subsidy payments under a U.S. Department of Agriculture program, the Government Accounting Office maintains. In a GAO report released this month, investigators found the program's regulations were too vaguely worded, allowing nominally eligible farmers to claim millions of dollars in subsidies intended to keep failing farms afloat. A USDA official said money is not being wasted and that some program participants are simply taking advantage of legal financial arrangements that maximize their income.

Yesterday's rate hike, to 1.25%, is the first in four years and likely will not to be the last one this year. The increase was widely anticipated by analysts, many of whom expect the interest rates to reach 3% or 4% over the next 18 months.

New studies are finding that people eating diets that include calcium's recommended allowance of 1,000 to 1,300 milligrams per day have lower body weight and lower body fat. Not including milk products in a diet may make weight loss more difficult, the research found.